Friday, September 04, 2015

One of my favourite things to do is to look at apps and find
ways they can be used in the classroom which could possibly go beyond what they
were originally designed for.

There are many apps which allow you to take a photo a day
and have it display as a calendar. The
apps often provide the ability to add details to the image. These apps can have
many uses in the classroom.

·Document
change: students can make observations of change by taking a photo each day
of the month to compare with other days such as clouds in the sky, plants
growing, construction of a garden or building, etc.

·Personal
reflection: Students can take selfies and do personal reflections each day, this will also document of they change during the year.

·Reading log: Students can take a photo of the
cover of the book they are reading and type the page numbers read and include comments.

·Record
student work: Students can take an image of work they have done each day and type in reflections.

·Document a
process: if students are working on a unit of work, students can document
events through the duration.

·Learning
goals: students can set learning goals and take images to reflect and track
their goals.

·Art
record: This is a great way to encourage art students to draw each day to improve their drawing skills.

·Spelling
words: Students can display their spelling words and take an image of a
different word each day, they can then type in the definition of the word.

·Themes
and concepts: Students could take photos of using a particular theme or concept each
month, eg. Shapes, colours, angles, etc.

Friday, June 05, 2015

A Virtual
poster is a digital page where you can often display text, audio, video,
images, and hyperlinks. It is a great platform for students to present their
work in a creative way. Collage makers can also be used to create virtual
posters.

The posters
created using the app options can also be shared by adding to an eBook using
Book creator app.

Pic Collage available for iPad,
Android and Kindle Fire.Pic Collage for Kids available for iPad.

These are great free tools to create interesting posters and collages using your photos,
stickers, frames, and text. There is the option of using collage templates or
free form design. Pic collage allows you to search for images on the internet
and add straight to the page. Pic Collage fo Kids- the best and safest visual and photo editor for home and schools! has removed social features making it safer to use with younger students.

I am always looking for useful image search tools. TinEye Labs provides a colour search function which searches Flickr images. You can select up to 5 colours and alter the percentage of colour by dragging the coloumns. You can also add keywords as tags to refine the search. When you click on an individual image it gives you information about the image.

Friday, May 15, 2015

The technique of layering images, masking and erasing, makes it possible to
manipulate images to create illusions. This can often be done using two images - a background image and a foreground image. Parts of the foreground image are erased to reveal the background image.

There are many ways this technique can be used with students:

Such as:

·Virtual trip: change the background image to
anywhere in the world, create a travel journal or travel postcards.

·Mythical creature: merge animal parts to create a new creature with powers.

·Superpowers: create the illusion of super human
strength, invisibility or the ability to fly.

·Surrealism: create a surrealistic image by
placing objects out of context.

·Out of proportion: Create the illusion that something has
grown or shrunk by placing it next to objects which are out of proportion.

·Space exploration: use images of space and planets
for the background.

·Travel through time: use images from the past as
a background and add a black and white or sepia filter, students could also
dress in relevant costume.

·Jump into a story: use images reflect from a story.

·Be the star of a comic: add images to a comic
creator

·Clone yourself: ever wished you could be in two places
at once, take multiple photos of yourself in different poses and add them to
the same background image.

·Mirror image: create the illusion of a mirror
image.

·Evil twin: take on two personas in the same image.

There are many software options which allow you to do this technique, however, there are now many easy to use options.

This app provides a range of free images for the background. You can buy the upgrade which will provide more images. You can use your own image for the foreground image. Very easy to use, simply erase the background of the foreground image. The free version does have ads.

4. Microsoft PowerPoint

Thought it was worth mentioning the remove background function in PowerPoint which is very effective and easy to use.

In the picture tools, select the option Remove background.
Tools will then appear to indicating mark areas
to keep and mark areas to remove. A purple mask will appear over the image, the
purple areas will be removed. Layer images by right clicking and selecting Bring
to front or send to back.

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About this Blog

I love finding digital resources and exploring ways to integrate technology into the classroom. I am particularly interested in online applications. This blog has been designed to share resources I have found and collected as both an educator and a parent. My background is in Secondary Art and Multimedia, however, I love finding ways to incorporate many subject areas.